Turkey Will Not Cut off Trade Ties to Iran at Behest of Others, Minister Says

ANKARA, June 29 (Reuters) – Turkey will not cut off trade ties with Iran at the behest of other countries, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday, after the United States this week told countries to cut all imports of Iranian oil from November.

Cavusoglu made the comment in an interview with broadcaster NTV. Turkey, is dependent on imports for almost all of its energy needs. President Tayyip Erdogan last year said Turkey was looking to raise the volume of its annual trade with Iran to $30 billion, from $10 billion.

U.S. President Donald Trump has ramped up pressure on its allies to cut off funding to Iran.

(Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Daren Butler)